


A Series Of Firsts And Lasts

by orphan_account



Category: The Halcyon (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-20 06:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11330646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account





	A Series Of Firsts And Lasts

The first time Adil saw Toby, he knew. There was something about the way the younger Hamilton brother acted that caught Adil’s attention. He wasn’t sure if it was how different he was to everyone else in his family or something else. Adil was working on the bar that night, but didn’t serve Toby, he was too afraid. However, he could barely tear his eyes away from Toby, who was slumped in the corner of the bar, staring into his whisky.

 As the night went on, Toby’s posture got progressively worse and his face got progressively less soft. At the start of the night, Toby looked nervous, emphasised by his soft features and the shaky smile he had on his face. However, the more he drank, the more Toby began to look like his father, a hard set jaw and stern expression.

 Adil noticed how no one seemed to approach Toby. Everyone ignored him and approached his brother. Adil had seen Freddie Hamilton a few times, and despite liking him more than the current Lord Hamilton, there was still something about Freddie that Adil wasn’t sure about. It was probably that he still seemed like a nobleman, still seemed like a Hamilton. Toby, on the other hand, was a completely different matter. He may as well have not even been in the family. The way Toby Hamilton conducted himself was not like a nobleman, was not like a Hamilton. Adil knew he was different, Adil knew he was special.

 Adil had heard the way the staff spoke about Toby, the hushed whispers about how things weren’t quite right with him, the comments about the amount the boy drank. But all of that only intrigued Adil more. Adil didn’t see this dysfunctional reject the rest of the staff saw, he saw a broken man in dire need of support, but with no one willing to give it to him.

               

 

 

 The last time Adil ever saw Toby, the boy was crying. Toby had showed up unannounced at Adil’s home, his eyes filled with tears.

“She’s… she’s sending me away,” Toby sobbed as he fell over into Adil.

“Who is?” Adil asked calmly, staring into Toby’s eyes.

“Who do you think?” Toby spat. “My mother. Of course.”

“Where is she sending you?” Adil asked, hi gaze not leaving Toby’s eyes.

“France,” Toby said, as tears began to fall down his cheeks at an accelerated rate.

“When are you leaving?” Adil asked, feeling his heart shatter.

“Two days’ time,” Toby told Adil, as he wrapped his arms around Adil, so tightly that Adil believed he may never let go.

“Why are you going?” Adil asked, pulling away from Toby and beginning to wipe away some of Toby’s tears with his sleeve.

“To marry some French nobility,” Toby muttered.

“Oh,” Adil said, staring at the floor. “That means you aren’t coming back at all.”

“I’ll never see you again,” Toby said as he began to bawl some more. “I don’t think I’ll be able to cope.”

“I’m sure you’ll be okay,” Adil said soothingly. “There’ll be plenty of other boy like me there anyway.”

“Adil, after all this time, you think I’d be okay with someone else?” Toby asked. “It’s only you. It’s always been you.”

“You have to do this Toby, for your family, for yourself,” Adil said, trying to hold himself together.

“But I don’t care about that,” Toby protested. “All I care about is you.”

“Do it for me then,” Adil said. “This will be good for you. You’ll be away from you family, away from the hotel, away from all of those memories of your father. This will be where you can start afresh. I can’t hold you back from an opportunity like this.”

“So, you want me to go?” Toby asked, a confused expression on his face.

“Yes,” Adil said shakily. “You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, and so I want you no… I need you to do this. This is your chance to live a life away from him, and all he’s done to you. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t want you to go?”

“But I won’t be able to be myself, not without you,” Toby replied, placing a hand up to Adil’s face to caress it.

“Don’t let me stand in your way,” Adil said as he stared into Toby’s eyes once more.

“But won’t you miss me?” Toby asked.

“Of course I’ll miss you,” Adil said as he felt a solitary tear fall down his cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you so much Adil,” Toby said as he pulled Adil into another hug.

“Shouldn’t you be getting back to you family now?” Adil asked once Toby had pulled away.

“Do you want me to leave?” Toby asked, looking hurt.

“Of course not,” Adil answered. “I was just trying to make this less painful.”

“Of course,” Toby said, as he turned his back on Adil.

“Goodbye, Toby Hamilton,” Adil said quietly. “I’ll never forget you.”


End file.
